England v India: Fifth Test at Edgbaston– report & scorecard on day five

Scorecard – England v India fifth Test

India first innings: 416 (Pant 146, Jadeja 104; Anderson 5-60)

England first innings: 284 (Bairstow 106; Siraj 4-66, Bumrah 3-68)

India second innings: 245 (Pujara 66, Pant 57; Stokes 4-33)

England second innings: 378-3 (Root 142*, Bairstow 114*; Bumrah 2-74)

England won by seven wickets

England completed a staggering seven-wicket success as their Yorkshire run machines ran riot with an undefeated stand of 269.

Bairstow made 114 not out for his second hundred of the match and his sixth this year, continuing a purple patch that has redefined his whole career, while Root’s 142no was a masterclass that took him to 28 Test tons.

England started day five needing another 119 but did it with comical ease in less than 25 overs and not a single concrete chance offered. This was nominally a series decider, held over from 2021 after a Covid postponement last September, but while victory squares the scoreline at 2-2 it barely seems fair to tether this England side to the past.

They are forging an entirely new identity under the adventurous captaincy of Ben Stokes and the guidance of head coach Brendon McCullum, delivering in incredible fashion on a lofty ambition of changing the face of Test cricket. After chasing targets of 277, 296, 299 and now 378 with a flourish this summer, it is hard to argue against.

Their previous record pursuit came three years ago when Stokes produced an Ashes miracle at Headingley to reel in 359. But where that was a nail-biting heist featuring number 11 Jack Leach as an unlikely accomplice, this was achieved with ease.

The fourth day had ended with England in full control on 259 for three, with both batters into the 70s and India looking increasing weary in the field. But conditions in the morning gave the tourists cause for optimism.

There was thick cloud cover overhead and gloomy enough light to require floodlights from the start of play. Mohammed Siraj was given first chance to exploit the conditions and his first two deliveries misbehaved slightly, the first leaping off a length and the second jagging back in.

It was a slight surprise to see India quickly call for a change of ball and, when the umpires agreed, Bairstow soon set about knocking the replacement out of shape. With Mohammed Shami searching for an outside edge he peeled off back-to-back boundaries through point.

Root was initially content to rotate the strike with singles and had a moment of minor fortune when an under-edge skimmed past his stumps, past the wicketkeeper and away for four more. By the time Shami conceded four byes down the leg side, the target had already dipped into double figures.

India’s early enthusiasm was already on the wane but England were beginning to thrive, Bairstow stroking Jasprit Bumrah into a wafer-thin gap at mid-on and Root flexing on to one knee to lace Shami through cover.

Bairstow beat Root into the 90s but was overtaken again when the former skipper pocketed consecutive boundaries from Bumrah, one chivvied down to third man and the other pinged to deep midwicket.

Root was first to three figures in 136 balls, with a ricochet over the slips doing the trick. He put on a clinic after reaching his ton, taking apart all-rounder Shardul Thakur.

Having first shimmied down the pitch and clubbed him firm and flat over the top, he stepped back in the crease and aced the latest trick up his sleeve – a reverse ramp for six over third man. It is a shot he has added to his already broad repertoire this summer but every time it makes an appearance, it leaves jaws on the floor.

Bairstow moved carefully to his century, unwilling to let another golden opportunity slip through his fingers, working a single off Ravindra Jadeja to kick off a familiar sprinting celebration.

With the landmark secured he cut loose, smashing Siraj for three muscular boundaries in as many balls before leaving the winning moment to Root. He reverse swept the spinner for four, then dashed through for the decisive run, the finishing touch on a quite incredible performance.

England’s wholehearted bowling performance on day four went a long way to teeing up a famous win, while Alex Lees and Zak Crawley set the tone for the chase with an ambitious opening stand of 107. But in Root and Bairstow they arguably have world cricket’s two form players.

Man of the match Bairstow admitted his excitement at the brand of cricket England are playing under Stokes.

He told Sky Sports: “It’s just about having the enjoyment factor of it, not being afraid of failing, going out and playing in a way that puts the pressure back on the opposition.

“We’re here to win games of cricket, that’s all we want to do. You’re going to lose games along the way if you play in the way in which we are, but hopefully the positive brand that we’re playing is exciting for people to watch.

“It’s certainly exciting to play in and we’ll have a bit of craic along the way.”

Asked about his partnership with Root, Bairstow added: “Ah, just two lads from Yorkshire.

“It’s amazing to share some special memories out there. We’ve grown up playing together and we’ve spent a lot of time in the middle all the way from Yorkshire Academy now to Test matches, and we’re very fortunate to do so.

“It’s an absolute pleasure to be out there for his 28th hundred. Yeah, it’s pretty special.”

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Top 10 Test run-chases

418 – West Indies v Australia, 2003

After matching first innings of 240, Australia must have been confident after making 417 second time around in Antigua. Brett Lee took four wickets but centuries from Ramnaresh Sarwan and Shivnarine Chanderpaul broke the back of the chase before Omari Banks and Vasbert Drakes finished the job with an unbroken stand of 46.

414 – South Africa v Australia, 2008

Brad Haddin’s innings of 94 seemed to put Australia out of reach but Graeme Smith’s hundred set the platform and he was emulated by AB de Villiers, while Hashim Amla, Jacques Kallis and JP Duminy all made fifties in an ultimately comfortable 414 for four.

404 – Australia v England, 1948

England captain Norman Yardley declared on 365 for eight once his side’s lead passed 400 at Headingley, but Arthur Morris and Sir Don Bradman hit huge hundreds in a remarkable seven-wicket triumph.

403 – India v West Indies, 1976

The Windies also declared after Alvin Kallicharran’s hundred built an imposing lead, but tons from Sunil Gavaskar and Gundappa Viswanath saw India to 406 for four – actually outscoring the Australian innings ranked just ahead of them.

395 – West Indies v Bangladesh, 2021

Bangladesh, with Shakib Al Hasan absent hurt, declared at 223 for eight and Kyle Mayers hit an astonishing 210 not out, putting on 216 with fellow debutant Nkrumah Bonner (86) to see his side home by three wickets.

388 – Sri Lanka v Zimbabwe, 2017

Asela Gunaratne made a match-winning 80 not out, putting on 121 with Niroshan Dickwella (80) and and unbroken 67 with Dilruwan Perera in a score of 391 for six.

387 – India v England, 2008

Twin hundreds from Andrew Strauss put England in control but Virender Sehwag hammered 83 before Sachin Tendulkar (103no) and Yuvraj Singh (85no) eased India to a four-wicket win.

378 – England v India, 2022

Joe Root and Jonny Bairstow hit twin centuries as England’s revitalised Test side roared into the history books, surpassing their previous best of 359 against Australia three years ago.

377 – Pakistan v Sri Lanka, 2015

Pakistan recovered from 13 for two to 255 for three, thanks to centuries from Shan Masood and Younis Khan, and the latter was joined by Misbah-ul-Haq to seal victory. Misbah’s match-winning six saw them actually score 382 for three.

369 – Australia v Pakistan, 1999

Inzamam-ul-Haq’s century underpinned Pakistan’s second innings of 392 but Australia charged to a four-wicket win, Justin Langer with 127 before Adam Gilchrist took centre stage with a rapid 149no.

Stokes admitted the prospect of chasing 378 at the start of the summer would have been “scary”, but not now.

He told Sky Sports: “When you have clarity like we do at the moment in the dressing room, it makes totals like that – and just the game in itself – a lot easier.

“The external pressure that playing international cricket gives you…378 five or six weeks ago would have been scary, but nah, it was good.”

Asked about the performance of the bowlers in the third innings at Edgbaston, during which he took four for 33, Stokes added: “We take away now the scoreboard and how many runs there are to chase, really.

“It’s all about taking wickets and how we’re going to take 10 wickets. We’ve managed to take 80 wickets in four Test matches, so there’s no complaints whatsoever.

“Sometimes teams are going to be better than us, but teams are never going to be braver than us – quote Jack Leach.”

Root admitted he and Bairstow had felt in “full control” once they had established their match-winning partnership.

He told Sky Sports: “It was pretty fun doing it. To be honest, throughout the whole summer since that first game, we’ve said whatever they get, we’ll chase it down.

“Ben to us in the group before the toss said, ‘We’re not going to bat first, we're going to chase’, so it’s sort of that mentality about how we’re going about things at the minute.

“Once we got that partnership going, we just felt in full control.”

Root, however, also hailed the efforts of openers Alex Lees and Zak Crawley, who put on 107 for the first wicket to lay the foundations for the win.

He said: “So much credit has to go to the two lads at the top. The way they set the platform, the way they shifted pressure straight back on to India and smashed that new ball around on a wicket that was doing a bit was incredible batting.

“It really made the work that we had to do after that a lot easier, and they deserve a huge amount of credit because it was a sublime partnership, it really was, against a world-class attack.”